Netanyahu to visit White House as pressure mounts for Gaza ceasefire

(Patria) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House next week for talks with President Donald Trump, a US official said on Monday, as Washington steps up pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza, AFP reported.

The July 7 visit, Netanyahu's third since Trump returned to power in January, comes after Trump said he hoped for a ceasefire in the war-torn Palestinian territory within a week.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt had earlier stated that Netanyahu "expressed interest" in meeting Trump and that both sides were "working on a date".

"This has been a priority for the president since he took office, to end this brutal war in Gaza," Leavitt told reporters at a briefing.

"It is heartbreaking to see the images that have been coming out of both Israel and Gaza during this war, and the president wants to see it end."

A senior Israeli official, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, is due to visit the White House this week to discuss laying the groundwork for Netanyahu's visit, Leavitt said.

Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit Trump in his second term in February, when the US president said he was considering the United States "taking over" Gaza. The Israeli prime minister visited the country again in April.

The end of Israel's twelve-day war with Iran has provided an opportunity for a deal, and Trump wants to add another peace agreement to a string of recent deals he has brokered.

"We think we're going to have a ceasefire even next week," Trump said on Friday.

On Sunday, on his Truth social media platform, he pressured Israel to "make a deal in Gaza".

Meanwhile, Trump appeared to leverage US aid to Israel over the weekend,
calling on the country's prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Netanyahu.

"The United States spends billions of dollars a year, far more than any other nation, protecting and supporting Israel," Trump wrote.

"We will not tolerate this.".

The war was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians. 251 hostages were taken, and 49 of them are still in Gaza, including 27 whom the Israeli military says are dead. The Israeli military has killed at least 56,531 people in Gaza, mostly civilians.